The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1887-09-14
Brother Stocking.

else in the parish but the minister's
boy. When 1 was little the children
drove me home crying because they
called me little priest" And after |
came to wear roundabouts if there was
any wickedness being hatched-any
playing truant for swim in the mill
pond, any midnight raids after water
melons-the boys never failed to taunt
me with, " You darsen't go, because you
are the minister's boy" For the same
reason could never read dime novels
nor play cards back of the hay-stack
down in Joe Dank's fathers meadow.
And once when everybody else was in
vited to a grand children's party the
girl who gave it said that was passed
by because she was afraid to go to the
minister's house to leave the invitation.
There were three of us-sister Annie,
who was old enough to teach the vii
lage school, l, who was dozen, and
brother Fred, who boosted seven sum-
mers-and the salary was only $500
year and donation party.
The whole town came to that party
to help eat up the things which the
church people brought. When they
went away the stair carpet was sure to
have new rents in it, and once the
young folks got so wild that they tipped
over the stove in the "parlOr chamber"
How father and mother made the $500
90 round / cannot imagine, but there
are lots of country ministers, even in
these days, who could explain the
problem to you.
/ hope, however, that they don't
have to keep as much of hotel for the
" religious tramps " as we did. Our
table was made perpetual free lunch
counter for those people, and hardly
not put on the best bed for their ac
commodation. Their name was legion
and the majority were book agents.
One of them, Brother Stocking-they
all claimed TO be ministers and each one
insisted on being called "brother y
made the house his home for two weeks
while he canvassed the town for The
Lives of the Crusaders" He found
fault because he didn't have
feather-bed to sleep on the first night;
because we didn't usually have beef
steak for supper and because fathers
razor was dull. 1t was impossible to
keep an edge on that razor, the tramps
used it so much. And when this man
left the only compensation we received
for all the trouble he made was a copy
of {" The Lives too much soiled for
further use as a canvassing book.
Then there was the tramp who came
to lecture on the Holy Land; also the
agent of the Liberian Colonization So
ciety; also many reformed drunkards,
suggestively saturated with perfumery,
and hordes of other tramps who sold
hair restoratives, and fitted spectacles,
and took orders for clergymen's suits,
etc., all of whom tried to persuade us
that they were laboring in the name of
the Lord. Occasionally used to rebel
against this sort of thing, for l thought
it was enough to be stable-boy for our
own horse and COW, and once, when a
Jew peddler, who was not a religious
tramp, tried to sell father a razor for
twenty-five cents, L pleaded with him
TO buy it for the benefit of the tramps,
but he banished me from the room in
hurry. Neither he nor my mother by
word or look ever indicated to any
man who came inside our door that he
was unwelcome. They were always on
the lookout for the privilege of enter
tanning angels unawares; nevertheless,
there came day when the tramps left
us suddenly never to come back.
We used to say Bible verses at the
breakfast-table Gin order of our ages)
Just after father had asked the bless
ing. We boys usually repeated familiar
passages, but sometimes the fancy
would seize me to search for peculiar
things to repeat. Once | quoted the
words: For at last it biteth like a SER
pent and stingeth like an adder" be-
cause Annie's young man." who sat
up Sunday nights, had loaned her his
watch-chain that ended with serpent's
head. Father and | had brief inter-
view after breakfast that morning, dur
ing which little old-fashioned family
government was administered.
Not long after this narrowing occur
renee there came big snow-storm one
Saturday and Fred and | got out what
few books we had and looked them
over. Then it was that / came across
some Bible verses arranged by topics,
and under the word Home" these
two were printed:
Withdraw thy foot from thy neigh
boris house; lest he be weary of thee,
and so hate thee"
''As a bird that VANDERBILT from her
nest, so is a man that VANDERBILT from
his place"
liked the title of the verses and
their novelty, and Fred and l agreed
that we would say them the next morn
ing.
just at dark that same evening the
stage drove up to the front door and
out stepped Brother Eliab Stocking,
agent for "The Lives of the Cru
saders," with his wife and three chill
dren, one of them being baby in long
dresses. We had not seen him for a
year and had never met his family
But he soon made them all very much
at home, informing us that they had
come to attend the wedding of his
cousin, Melissa Jordan, which was tC
occur in the northwest corner of the
town some time during the next week
and that they knew Brother Bosworth-
that was my fathers name-would be
hannv IN have them snend the Sabbath